Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) can be divided into two major groups. The first is a spectrum of CD30+ T-cell lymphoproliferative disorders including primary cutaneous ALCL and lymphomatoid papulosis, usually affecting older patients but characterized by an excellent prognosis. The second is systemic nodal ALCL, which on the basis of ...

One of the most controversial issues in immunology for over a century has been whether an effective immune response can be elicited against malignant tumours. Whether the immunology community has believed cancer immunotherapy is feasible or impossible has been largely determined by the prevailing immunological paradigms at that time. In ...

Apoptosis and senescence are cellular failsafe programmes that counteract excessive mitogenic signalling from activated oncogenes. Cancellation of apoptosis or senescence is therefore a prerequisite for tumour formation, and the ability of the cancer cell to disrupt these processes can be considered its 'lifeline'. Ironically, the efficacy of anticancer agents also ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the biological effectiveness of neutrons at the energy below 1 MeV on apoptosis and carcinogenesis in the mouse ovary. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Female mice were exposed to 1.0 Gy monoenergetic neutrons (0.317, 0.525 and 1.026 MeV), (252)Cf fission neutron (2.13 MeV) or (137)Cs gamma-rays at 7 days ...

Interest in polyamine catabolism has increased since it has been directly associated with the cytotoxic response of multiple tumour types to exposure to specific anti-tumour polyamine analogues. Human polyamine catabolism was considered to be a two-step pathway regulated by the rate-limiting enzyme spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) that provides substrate for an ...

Previously we have shown that vaccination with the poorly immunogenic B16BL6-D5 melanoma (D5) elicits a dominant type 2 (T2) cytokine response that fails to protect the host from a subsequent tumour challenge. Here we investigated whether the inherent immunogenicity of a tumour can be correlated with its ability to bias ...

Type 1 cytokines, such as interferon gamma (IFNgamma) and interleukin-2 (IL-2), increase T cell-mediated immune responses and are considered to be beneficial for antitumour immunity. Type 2 cytokines, such as IL-4, IL-5, and IL-10, inhibit Type 1 responses and promote humoral responses. We have previously reported an association between low ...

IL-2 and IL-12 are promising anti-tumour agents. However, little attention has been paid to the role of macrophages during IL-2/IL-12 mediated tumour rejection. We studied the role of macrophages during IL-2/IL-12 mediated tumour rejection in DBA/2 mice bearing syngeneic SL2 lymphoma. Local treatment with IL-2 and IL-12 cured 85% of ...

Epidemiological studies strongly suggest associations between chronic exposure to endogenous oestrogens and the development of breast and gynaecological tumours. Two mechanisms by which 17 beta-oestradiol (E2) may enhance tumorigenesis are: (i) enhancement of cell proliferation and (ii) the production of reactive, genotoxic metabolites. Here we suggest an additional mechanism, inhibition ...

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains a difficult disease to treat and independent prognostic markers other than tumour stage and histology have not emerged. The immune cell content of solid tumours has been associated with tumour regression and at times, tumour progression. The involvement of immune cells in prognosis of ...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) exert various effects on immune cells. Here we studied, whether they influence the cytokine expression pattern in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or antigen specific T-cells. In PBMCs BDNF and NGF had interindividually variable effects on T helper cell type (Th)1- ...

Certain vitamin E analogues, such as a-tocopheryl succinate (a-TOS), exhibit in vivo anti-tumour activity and, in vitro , induce apoptosis of cultured tumour cells. In the present study we report that these effects may be explained, at least in part, by destabilization of lysosomal membranes. a-TOS, but not a-tocopheryl acetate ...

Loss of growth control and a marked resistance to apoptosis are considered major mechanisms driving tumour progression. Protein kinases C (PKC) have been shown to be important in the regulation of proliferation and apoptosis. In this report, we investigated the role of the PKC-like kinase PKCmu in the control of ...

Chemokines are a family of low molecular weight (8-10 kDa) pro-inflammatory cytokines, which bind to G-protein coupled receptors. Their primary function is chemoattraction and activation of specific leucocytes in various immuno-inflammatory responses. However, new research suggests that they are key players in cancer being involved in the neoplastic transformation of ...

The role of the immune system in combating tumour progression has been studied extensively. The two branches of the immune response - humoral and cell-mediated - act both independently and in concert to combat tumour progression, the success of which depends on the immunogenicity of the tumour cells. The immune ...

Although cancer is a disease that will afflict one out of three people in the Western world, when considered at a cellular level, it is a rare clonal event. Long-lived organisms, such as humans, have evolved strategies to restrict the development of potentially malignant cells, and one such mechanism is ...

The study aimed at immunocytochemical evaluation of the cellular expression of two cytokines, IL-2 and IL-12 in lung carcinoids (n = 10), following the earlier demonstration of two markers of endocrine tumours (chromogranin A and NSE--neuron-specific enolase). In the immunocytochemical studies the classical avidin-biotinylated peroxidase (ABC) technique was used. Results ...

In contrast to necrotic cells, the clearance of apoptotic ones usually is an anti-inflammatory process which elicits only a marginal immune response. During apoptosis phosphatidylserine (PS) is exposed on the outer leaflet of the cytoplasmic membrane and serves as target for the PS receptor of phagocytes. The latter is responsible ...

Breast cancer progression is associated with and dependent upon robust neovascularization. It is becoming clear that tumour-associated 'normal' cells, such as immune/inflammatory cells, endothelial cells and stromal cells, conspire with cancer cells in promoting this process. In particular, infiltrating immune/inflammatory cells secrete a diverse repertoire of growth factors and proteases ...

Non-genotoxic carcinogens are thought to induce tumour formation by disturbing the balance between cell growth and cell death. Gap junctions (GJ) contribute to the maintenance of tissue homeostasis by allowing the intercellular exchange of growth regulatory signals and potential inhibition of GJ intercellular communication through loss of connexin (Cx) plaques ...

Due to their potent ability to activate the immune system, dendritic cells (DC) are showing promise as potential adjuvants for tumour immunotherapy of cancer patients. However, little is known about the effect tumour cells can have on DC function. Indeed, the discovery of different DC subsets with different immunological functions ...

Heart failure has traditionally been considered a disease of the myocardium, with symptoms arising from altered haemodynamics. However, it is now recognised that, in addition to marked neuroendocrine disturbance, there is perturbation of cytokine expression in patients with heart failure, resulting in an inflammatory imbalance. This not only influences symptoms, ...

The expression of Ki-67 in tumour cells induced to apoptosis by tumour-necrosis-factor alpha (TNFalpha) and interferon gamma (IFNgamma) was studied. Ki-67 is known as a proliferation marker which is expressed in cycling cells, but not in resting quiescent or Go cells. In numerous studies, the proportion of tumours expressing Ki-67 ...

Significant breakthroughs in our understanding of the molecular basis of the inflammatory response have been achieved in the past five years, with the successive identification of the genetic basis of all known hereditary periodic-fever syndromes. Impaired cytokine recognition and defective signalling molecules have been implicated in the inception of recurrent ...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a pleiotropic regulator, critical to numerous biological processes, including vasodilatation, neurotransmission and macrophage-mediated immunity. The family of nitric oxide synthases (NOS) comprises inducible NOS (iNOS), endothelia (eNOS), and neuronal NOS (nNOS). Interestingly, various studies have shown that all three isoforms can be involved in promoting or ...

Introduction Macrophages can form a significant proportion of the solid tumour mass and consequently play an important role in tumour progression. The role of macrophages in tumorigenesis remains controversial as they can display both a growth promoting as well as a tumoricidal phenotype. 2,3 The tumoricidal properties of macrophages have ...

BACKGROUND: Acne lesions spontaneously remit, but the mechanism of this remission has not been elaborated. It is known, however, that the remission is associated with a de-differentiation of sebocytes, causing a cessation of sebum secretion specific to that particular pilosebaceous unit. We have previously described the cytokines that will promote ...

We have examined the potential of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing listeriolysin O (LLO) to deliver tumour antigens to dendritic cells (DCs) for cancer immunotherapy. Using OVA as a model tumour antigen, we have shown in murine DCs that E. coli expressing cytoplasmic LLO and OVA proteins can deliver the OVA ...

Interleukin (IL)-9 is known to regulate many cell types involved in T-helper type 2 responses classically associated with asthma, including B- and T-lymphocytes, mast cells, eosinophils and epithelial cells. In contrast, target cells mediating the effects of IL-9 in the lower respiratory tract remain to be identified. Therefore, the authors ...

BACKGROUND: Kupffer cells, monocytes and infiltrating T cells have been considered the major source of interleukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha in the liver. AIMS; To explore the expression of interleukin-1beta and tumour necrosis factor-alpha and to evaluate the density and the distribution of T lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages in the liver ...

Engagement of the NKG2D receptor by tumour-associated ligands may promote tumour rejection by stimulating innate and adaptive lymphocyte responses. In humans, NKG2D is expressed on most natural killer cells, gammadelta T cells and CD8alphabeta T cells. Ligands of NKG2D include the major histocompatibility complex class I homologues MICA and MICB, ...

In dermatology, cryotherapy is commonly used to treat benign and malignant skin lesions. However, studies investigating the time-course of the direct and delayed effects on the microvasculature and subsequent tissue destruction are lacking. Amelanotic melanomas (A-Mel-3) were implanted into the dorsal skinfold chamber of Syrian Golden hamsters (n=51). Tumour and ...

Macrophages play an important role in immune and inflammatory responses, largely through secretion of bioactive molecule such as cytokines. While calcium is known to be an important regulator of this process, less is known about the role of other ions and the ion channels that regulate them. We have previously ...

Immunotherapy includes both active and passive mechanisms that have the potential to treat many tumour types. Whereas monoclonal antibodies may kill cells by merely binding to them, 'cancer vaccines' involve the induction of an active immune response. The activation of tumour antigen-specific T-helper and cytotoxic T lymphocytes or non-specific macrophages ...

Dendritic cells can induce an immune response as competent antigen presenting cells. It has been reported that immature bone marrow derived dendritic cells are capable of inducing an immune response against tumours displaying significant apoptosis. It is still controversial, however whether immature dendritic cells can also induce an immune response ...

The in vitro model of tumour infiltrating macrophages (TIM)-tumour interactions in which monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) are cultured with cancer cells was used to assess immunophenotypic changes of interacting cells. Following short cocultures, monocytes, MDM and tumour cells were sorted out by FACS and the expression of several determinants ...

As our understanding of cellular behaviour grows, and we identify more and more genes involved in the control of such basic processes as cell division and programmed cell death, it becomes increasingly difficult to integrate such detailed knowledge into a meaningful whole. This is an area where mathematical modelling can ...

Immune responses towards malignant plasma cells have clearly been demonstrated in the course of monoclonal B cell dyscrasias and shown to be mostly specific for idiotypic determinants of the monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig). These responses are specifically efficient against lymphoma cells expressing a membrane form of the monoclonal Ig. In myeloma, ...

Taxol is an effective anti-tumour drug against a variety of tumour cells. Taxol directly induces apoptosis in addition to a G2/M cell cycle arrest. However, it remains poorly understood how Taxol induces apoptosis in tumour cells. Taxol induces the secretion of inflammatory cytokines in murine macrophages in a toll-like receptor-4 ...

Glatiramer acetate (GA) interferes with antigen recognition and modulates cytokine secretion of T cells in an antigen-specific manner. Here we analysed the capacity of GA to modulate proliferative responses and cytokine secretion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in response to antigen-independent stimuli, i.e., phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and staphylococcal enterotoxin B ...

In certain types of solid tumours and lymphomas prolactin (PRL) potentiates tumour cell proliferation and exerts anti-apoptotic effect. Tumour cells themselves can produce PRL and express PRL-receptors. Hyperprolactinemia is associated with different tumours, also. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a haematological malignancy caused by the clonal expansion of terminally differentiated plasma ...

It has been reported that theophylline induces growth inhibition and apoptosis in tumour cells. We report that theophylline induces growth inhibition and apoptosis of several human epithelial tumour cells with an IC:50 of 2.5 mM after 48 h of exposure. Moreover, 2.5 mM theophylline induces the accumulation of cancer cells ...

Despite the identification of tumour antigens and their subsequent generation in subunit form for use as cancer vaccines, whole tumour cells remain a potent vehicle for generating anti-tumour immunity. This is because tumour cells express an array of target antigens for the immune system to react against, avoiding problems associated ...

Anaemia of chronic disease (ACD), the most frequent anaemia among hospitalized patients, develops under chronic inflammatory disorders such as chronic infections, cancer or autoimmune diseases. A number of different pathways contribute to ACD, such as diversion of iron traffic, a diminished erythropoiesis, a blunted response to erythropoietin, erythrophagocytosis and bone ...

The pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is better understood since the identification of the novel human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8), which can be found in all forms of KS. Viral oncogenesis and cytokine-induced growth, as well as some states of immunocompromise, contribute to its development. Several virally encoded genes--eg, bcl-2, interleukin ...

Almost all types of cancer are associated with an activation of coagulation. However, elevation of haemostatic markers of coagulation does not predict venous thrombosis. Multiple and interdependent processes between the tumour and the patient induce a hypercoagulable state. Tumour procoagulant activity, host inflammatory responses and extrinsic factors are involved. Tumour ...

Although ovarian mechanisms of ovulation have been a subject of investigation for more than a century, essential regulatory pathways remain uncertain. A role for the ovarian surface epithelium in ovulation has recently been demonstrated. Ovarian surface epithelial cells in close contact with the apical wall of preovulatory ovine follicles secrete ...

Human tumour immunology is at a standstill whereas implemented cancer vaccines have shown effectiveness in inducing immune responses detectable in circulating lymphocytes. In most circumstances, however, such immune responses are not sufficient to induce cancer regression. This paradoxical observation could be explained in several ways depending upon the immunological endpoint ...

Histamine is produced by many cells expressing histidine decarboxylase (HDC), the enzyme responsible for the synthesis of histamine. Since melanoma cells and tissue contain relatively large amounts of histamine, the functional significance of histamine was examined using specific antihistamines in vitro and in vivo in the human melanoma cell line ...

A broad range of approaches are under active investigation for the biological therapy of cancer, in particular, strategies directed at host immune response potentiation. These efforts have been fuelled by studies demonstrating the presence of an endogenous, but ineffective, host antitumour immune response and a greater understanding of the key ...